HPROP Chapter 21

After learning Occlumency to a skilled level where he could manipulate his memories and emotions, Charles had finally been able to solve the headache of being able to go to the school he had been dreaming of.

The Sorting Hat had been reasonable, in truth, he had been well-suited for any of the four houses.

Slytherin was the domain of the pure blooded lords, meaning muggleborns had no way of entering. It could even be said that it was the house that groomed the successors of the houses of old nobility.

At the same time, Gryffindor was where the majority of half-bloods and muggleborns were. It was also where the not so rich yet open-minded purebloods were. It could be said it was the house where the politicians of the people were handled.

The house of Ravenclaw held mostly scholars. They were relatively neutral and focused solely on their studies. After graduation, the vast majority were commonly seen to be in the medical field, or even the business of making magic-related items. It could be said this was the house where those of technical talent were cultivated.

And Hufflepuff was where the vast majority were of mediocre talent. This meant nothing to say about their hard work however. For example in Book Four, the champion of Hogwarts had been Cedric Diggory. This was a man of elegance, something Charles had wanted to stress. However, his status amongst the rest of his contemporaries had been relatively bad. Ah! For the character to chase after Cho Chang, this author understands. As for the minority, pah, freaks! Those who graduated from Hufflepuff were generally all basic members of society.

So it could not be said that Dumbledore was in the white. Gryffindor had originally bred politicians as well. Gryffindor and Slytherin had always fought, whether it be in ideals or in politics.

If it weren’t for the Boggart, then Charles would have been a part of the technical students and be a little eagle for the Ravenclaws. But after escaping from death by the skin of his teeth, Charles had realized that his heart was actually quite crazy.

His own hopes had excited his life, and his own promises had made him realize what it was to live. Perhaps it was in his nature to court disaster.

If it was so, then forward he would go! Off to Gryffindor! In any case, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the future battle.

Hogwarts is a school of magic and doubled as a nutjob of a school. There were a total of 142 staircases, several spacious and clean corridors, several not so spacious corridors, and some that even shook. Some corridors even changed their passageways every Friday to link to a different place. Some stairs would mysteriously vanish, forcing one to have to jump the next step. Some doors require you to have the appropriate manners or have you tickle them in the right place in order for them to open. Some doors weren’t even doors and were merely the walls pretending to have an openable door. They all seemed to move by themselves as well. The figures on the wall-mounted paintings loved to visit one another, and there were armor suits all over Hogwarts. In Book Seven, it was proved that they were able to move.

The ghost themselves could give a person a headache capable of killing as well. When you opened a door, a ghost could choose that moment to suddenly float on through the door, scaring you half to death. Nearly-Headless-Nick would oftentimes happily point the Gryffindors onto the right direction, but Peeves was different. If you had the misfortune of coming across him, then that ghost was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase. Sometimes he would throw trash bins onto your head or pull the carpets from beneath your feet. Throwing chalk would happen constantly, and there were times when he would sneak up behind you without a sound. Then, he’d fly right in front of you and grab your nose with a loud shout, “GOT YOUR CONK!”

Even worse than coming across Peeves was coming across Argus Filch, the caretaker. Everyone knew that this old geezer was slightly touched in the head.

Filch owned a cat named Mrs. Norris. It was a scruffy and dust-colored little creature that had bulging lamp-like eyes like Filch. She would oftentimes patrol the corridors by herself. Whomever broke a rule right in front of her, even if it was just a little toe out of line, she would instantly whisk off to Filch. Two seconds later, Filch would come wheezing along. Filch knew the secret corridors better than any of the students in Hogwarts, (Except maybe for the Weasley twins) and could pop up from anywhere like a ghost. Every student loathed him, and it was the desire of every student to kick Mrs. Norris a swift kick.

In honesty, if you try your best to find the magical doors and staircases, then it was very fun to explore.

Every Wednesday at midnight, the students would have to use their telescopes to observe the night sky to learn the names of the differing stars and how they would move. Other than that, they would have their Herbology lessons at the greenhouses behind the castle three times a week. Teaching them was Professor Sprout, a short and stout little witch. Professor Sprout would teach them how to take care of all sorts of strange plants and fungi and as well as learning what they were used for.

The most tedious class had been History of Magic, a class which was solely taught by a ghost. Professor Binns was extremely old, one time when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and later got up to teach the next morning, he had left his body behind by accident. Like a bee, Binns would drone on and on while the students would cram down several names and dates. Sometimes, he would mix up the names, such as Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball.

Professor Flitwick was the Charms teacher; an extremely tiny wizard who had to stand on top of a stack of books in order to be seen over his desk. But Charles hadn’t underestimate him, in his youth, he was a dueling champion and was strong even in the later battles in the series. But what left Charles speechless was during the very first class of the term during roll call. When the professor reached Harry’s name, he gave an excited squeak before falling to ground out of sight. Fine then, Charles felt that he had to amend his earlier words. Every amazing person not in a time of crisis was practically a dobe. Agh! There was an exception however, professor McGonagall.

To Charles, there was no other person more suited to be a professor than she was. Strict and wise she was. In her very first class, the moment she sat down, professor McGonagall had gave a talking-to moment to them. “Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts,” She said. “Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned.”

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. Everyone had been impressed by this and were eager to try it on their own.

There was another exception of course, and that was Charles.

But, everyone soon came to realize that without studying for a very long time, they wouldn’t even think about changing furniture into animals for a very long time. After taking down a copious amount of complicated notes, they were given a match and were tasked in trying to transform it into a needle. But, by the end of the lesson, only Charles had managed to turn the match into a needle. He had even managed to give the needle a decorative design. Professor McGonagall had shown the entire class on how detailed the needle was before awarding him five points and a rare smile. Aside from him in the entire class, only Hermione Granger had a noticeable difference to her match.

Defense Against the Dark Arts had been a complete disaster since it was taught not by Quirrell, but Lord Voldemort in secret. His class had been a joke. His classroom reeked of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he had meant in Romania. Quirrell had been constantly afraid that the vampire would come back to get him. According to him, the turban wrapped around his head was given to him by an African prince as a thank you gift for getting rid of a zombie. But no one was sure if they could believe this story because one time, Seamus Finnigan had asked how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, but Quirrell went red in the face and started to talk about the weather instead. Everyone had always noticed that there was a funny smell around the turban, the Weasley twins had insisted that it was filled with garlic as well so that no matter what, Quirrell would be protected from the vampire no matter where he went.

During this short amount of time, the know-it-all Hermione Granger was relieved to find out that she wasn’t all behind the rest of the class, allowing to let out a sigh in relief. Many people had come from Muggle families, and like her, many of them hadn’t any idea that they were witches or wizards. “There’s so many things to learn here.” She would often times say to Charles. Even the pure blooded witches and wizards weren’t all that far ahead.